The present invention relates to an acoustic transducer for reproducing sounds from electric signals outputted by a sound apparatus. More specifically, the invention relates to a headphone, which is mounted for use on a user""s auricle, and so on.
As the acoustic transducer mounted for use on an user""s auricle, conventionally there have been a headphone type acoustic transducer having a headband and an innnerphone type one having no headbands. In the present invention, among the acoustic transducers to be mounted for use on users"" auricles, xe2x80x9cinnerphonexe2x80x9d means a type of the acoustic transducer having no headbands, such as the headphones. The innerphone usually comprises a pair of separate parts, each of which is to be mounted on each of the auricles. Each of the parts comprises a housing having a speaker unit and a support for supporting the housing on the auricle.
The headphone comprises housings, each of which has a speaker unit therein, and a headband, which is connected to the housings at both ends thereof. The headband presses the pair of the housings against the pair of the auricles respectively, for example, by an elastic force, under a condition that the headband is put on the top of the user""s head, is set around the back part of the head, or is hung under the chin of the user.
Thus, the headphone can comprise the housings of comparatively large size and heavy weight, since the headphone is supported with its headband. Accordingly, the size of the speaker unit put in the housing can be also made large, so the low tones from the speaker unit can be reproduced very well.
Many people, however, do not like to use the headphone, since the user has to put the headband around the head, and thus, the headband disorders the user""s hairstyle and makes the feeling of mounting the headphone worse.
Moreover, storing and carrying the headphone are troublesome since the headband has a fairly large size and it increases the total size of the headphone.
An acoustic transducer, wherein the above-mentioned disadvantages of the headphone are relieved to a certain level is, for instance, an innerphone.
Among the conventional innerphones, there are ones whose housing is about a size of a cavity in the center part of the auricle near the earhole, and the others whose housing is about the same size as the auricle.
In the innerphone whose housing is about the size of the cavity of the auricle, the housing is inserted into the cavity of the auricle. Thus, the housing is held stably.
In the innerphone of about the same size as the auricle, the support comprises a hook having a fixed shape, for example, in the letter xe2x80x98Cxe2x80x99 (C-shape), and a fixed size. The hook touches a constricted part between the head and the auricle, so as to embrace in a C-letter-surrounded space the constricted part; the constricted part being attaching the auricle to a temporal bone of the user""s head. Then, the support and the housing cooperatively pinch the auricle. Thus, the comparatively large housing is held on the face of the auricle stably without the type of headband that the headphone has.
The innerphone is generally so small and light, because of having no headbands, that the feeling of mounting the innerphone is better than that of the headphone. In addition, the innerphone requires only a small storage space and is handy for carring.
However, in the type of innerphone with its housing inserted into the cavity of the auricle, the size of the housing cannot be made larger than the cavity in the center part of the auricle near the earhole. Thus, the speaker unit cannot be made larger. Therefore, the low tones reproduced by the innerphone have less dynamism than those reproduced by the headphone.
This disadvantage of the poor quality of the low tones is overcome in the type of innerphone wherein the housing is held by the cooperation of the housing and the support with holding the auricle therebetween.
In this conventional type of innerphone, however, since the hook of the support is only hung on the constricted part of the auricle, the support itself is not always held on the constricted part stably. Accordingly, the feeling of mounting the innerphone is not good. Moreover, since the housing tends to slip off the right position, a gap between the housing and the face of the auricle is liable to be formed. Through this gap, the reproduced sounds from the speaker unit leak out of the ear and the outside noises enter the ear. As a result, in the above-mentioned type of innerphone, quality of the reproduced sounds deteriorates. In addition, in the above-mentioned type of innerphone, the shape of the hook is fixed and cannot be changed. On the other hand, the widths of the constricted parts of the auricles are various among the users. Therefore, in the conventional innerphone with the constant shape and size, there can be a case that the size of the hook does not fit the width of the constricted part of the auricle. In that case, not only the feeling of mounting the innerphone, but also the quality of the reproduced sounds are not good, since the housing is out of the right position.
In addition, in the case of the housing of substantially the same size as the auricle, such as the conventional housings of the headphone and the above-mentioned type innerphone, a face of the housing to contact the face of the auricle is substantially flat. Thus, when mounting such the housing on the auricle, a gap between the flat face and the auricle""s face is formed. Through the gap, the reproduced sounds from the speaker unit leak out of the ear and the outer noises enter the ear. Thus, the quality of the reproduced sounds, particularly of the high tones, is not satisfactory enough in the case of the conventional headphone.
An object of the present invention is to produce an innerphone type acoustic transducer which is put on by pinching a user""s auricle between a housing and a support thereof in cooperation, wherein the support itself is held more stably than the conventional transducer. Thus, the acoustic transducer of the present invention has better quality of its reproduced sounds than that of the conventional headphone or the acoustic transducer, without lacking the advantages of the innerphone type, that is, (a) the better feeling of mounting it; (b) the less storage space; and (c) the better portability; than the conventional headphone.
In order to achieve the above object, an acoustic transducer of the present invention comprises
a housing having an electroacoustic transducer;
a support comprising a hook
(a) being for holding a constricted part of an auricle therewith, said constricted part attaching said auricle to the user""s temporal bone of head,
(b) having a substantial shape of the letter C (C-shape), and
(c) having means for changing or adjusting a gap between an upper part and a lower part of the C-shape,
said support being for supporting said housing on said auricle by gently-pinching said auricle in cooperation of and between said hook and said housing; and
a connecting member connecting said housing and said support, in the manner that said housing and said support gently pinch said auricle therebetween.
The support of the acoustic transducer is mounted on the constricted part of the auricle stably by the hook. Moreover, the housing and the support are held by the auricle therebetween cooperatingly. In this manner, the acoustic transducer of the present invention is firmly mounted on the auricle. Accordingly, without a headband of the conventional type of headphone, the comparatively large housing is held on the auricle.
The support is mounted by that an upper part and a lower part of the hook in the C-shape embrace the constricted part of the auricle therein. Therefore, in comparison with a conventional case that a single hook in a constant shape is hung on the auricle such as a temple of glasses, the support of this invention is mounted on the auricle more stably.
Moreover, the user changes or adjusts the shape of the inside space of this hook in order to fit the width of the constricted part of the auricle. Thus, since the support itself is stably mounted on the auricle by the hook, the housing held on the auricle hardly slips off the holding position in comparison with the conventional case that the simple hook of a constant shape is hung on the auricle. Because of that, the feeling of mounting the innerphone is improved. In addition, quality of the reproduced sounds is prevented from deterioration caused by gaps between the housing and the face of the auricle.
Preferably, said connecting member comprises a gap-narrowing force generator for exerting a force to narrow a gap between said housing and said support. The force of this gap-narrowing force generator presses the housing against the face of the auricle. Thereby, the housing is mounted stably at a position to cover the auricle, and further substantially no gaps are formed between the housing and the auricle. In addition, the force can hold the comparatively large housing on the auricle, similarly as the conventional elastic force of the headband. Accordingly, since the speaker unit therein is made larger, and therefore the quality of the low tones reproduced thereby is improved.
In one preferred mode of the present invention, said connecting member
(a) has a pivot which pivot-connects said housing and said support rotatably, and
(b) changes or adjusts a gap between said housing and said support by a relative rotation of said housing and said support.
More preferably, said connecting member has a torque generator for exerting torque to narrow the gap between said housing and said support. In the acoustic transducer comprising the above-mentioned connecting member, the support is mounted on the constricted part of the auricle attaching the auricle to the head, and the torque of the torque generator makes the housing and the support press front and back faces of the auricle, respectively. Thus the housing is held at a position to cover the auricle.
In the acoustic transducer comprising the above-mentioned connecting member in one preferred mode, said housing and said support have first and second finger-push parts, respectively. Preferably, said housing or said support has a lever configuration, and therefore, said housing or said support rotates around said pivot when a relative force is applied between said first finger-push part and said second finger-push part. In that case, said first finger-push part is provided at a position opposite to said housing with respect to said pivot, or said second finger-push part is provided at a position opposite to said hook with respect to said pivot. Said first finger-push part or said second finger-push part is a recess or a protuberance. In any mode mentioned above, when, for instance, a thumb and a first finger of the same hand touch the first and second finger-push parts, respectively, and apply forces on the finger-push parts to decrease a distance between the two fingers, the gap between the housing and the support are widened by the leverage. Moreover, in the case that the torque generator is provided, the widened gap between the housing and the support is narrowed by the torque of the torque generator when the forces of the fingers are reduced or removed. Thus, the acoustic transducer of the present invention is easily mounted on the constricted part of the auricle by only one hand by that the housing or the support is constructed as a lever.
Preferably, said support has a second gap-narrowing force generator for exerting a force to narrow a gap between said upper part and said lower part of said C-shaped hook. Thus, the hook embraces the constricted part of the auricle in the space within the C-shape, and the second gap-narrowing force generator exerts a force to prevent the gap between the upper and lower parts of the C-shape from being widened. Accordingly, the stability of the support itself is improved.
The above-mentioned support in one preferred mode comprises
(a) a first hook and a second hook arranged to face each other;
(b) a second pivot which rotatably pivot-connects said first hook and said second hook, in the manner that said first hook or said second hook can rotate around said second pivot and can change or adjust a gap between said first hook and said second hook; and
(c) a second torque generator for exerting torque to narrow said gap between said first hook and said second hook.
The above-mentioned support is stably mounted because the torque of the second torque generator makes the first and second hooks press the constricted part of the auricle.
The above-mentioned support in another preferred mode comprises
(a) a first hook and a second hook arranged to face each other; and
(b) an elastic member connecting said first hook and said second hook for exerting an elastic force to narrow a gap between said first hook and said second hook.
The above-mentioned support is stably mounted by that the elastic force of the elastic member makes the first and second hooks press the constricted part of the auricle therebetween. Moreover, the first and second hooks and the elastic member may be formed as one body.
The above-mentioned support in still another preferred mode comprises
(a) a first hook and a second hook arranged to face each other; and
(b) a slider which slidably connects said first hook and said second hook;
said slider being for changing or adjusting a gap between said first hook and said second hook by sliding of said first hook or said second hook. The above-mentioned support is stably mounted since the slider is fixed in a condition that the first and second hooks are pressed against the constricted part of the auricle therebetween.
Preferably, said housing has roughly the same size as said auricle. In the acoustic transducer of the present invention, the housing and the support are mounted by pinching the auricle therebetween in cooperation. Thereby, the size of the housing of this invention can be made larger than that of the conventional innerphone, without a headband of the conventional type of headphone. In the case of the housing having such a large size, the speaker unit in the housing can be made larger. Accordingly, the quality of the reproduced low tones can be improved.
Preferably, a front of said housing is convex at a center part which emits sounds from the electroacoustic transducer. When the above-mentioned housing is mounted in such manner that the front thereof faces the earhole, the front of the housing, more preferably an earpad which covers the front, and the face of the auricle touch each other substantially without gaps therebetween because the center part of the front of the housing is convex. Thus, not only the reproduced sounds from the speaker unit does not leak out, but also noises does not enter the ear from the outside. Therefore, the quality of the reproduced sounds, especially of the high tones, is improved. Since the center part of the front of the housing touches the face of the auricle, the housing hardly slips off the position, wherein the housing faces the earhole. Thus, the acoustic transducer of the present invention is mounted on the auricle more stably than the conventional ones. Accordingly, not only the feeling of mounting it but also the reproduced sounds are improved, since the gap between the front of the housing and the auricle are kept small.
In a case that one or more cords are provided for connecting electrically said electroacoustic transducer and an outside acoustic signal generating apparatus, it is preferable to have at least one or more recesses or protuberances on an opposite part of said support to said housing, namely a part near the temporal bone; or alternatively, on an opposite part of said housing to said support for the following reason. In order to store or carry the acoustic transducer unit(s) of the present invention, said cords are wound in a manner to bind two acoustic transducer units putting one upon the other, or just around said acoustic transducer unit, and said recesses or protuberances firmly hold said wound cord. Accordingly, the wound cords hardly become loose. Therefore, the storage space of the acoustic transducer is small and its portability is good.
In the acoustic transducer of the present invention, preferably a part of said support for touching said constricted part is made of soft material, such as urethane resin or urethane sponge. Thus, when the acoustic transducer of the present invention is mounted on the auricle, the feeling of mounting it is improved.
While the novel features of the invention are set forth particularly in the appended claims, the invention, both as to organization and content, will be better understood and appreciated, along with other objects and features thereof, from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings.